Method for producing cigarette containing clay minerals of loess and cigarette produced from the same

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a method for producing a cigarette containing clay minerals of loess includes the steps of: (a) collecting loess powder by mixing a loess with aqueous solvent, filtering off filtered particles, and drying a filtrate; (b) sifting out the loess powder; (c) obtaining a homogenized suspension of loess by adding the sifted loess powder into the aqueous solvent, and shaking the suspension; and (d) applying the suspension into cigarette filter, filler or wrapper during the cigarette making process followed by drying. The cigarette containing the clay minerals of the loess produced in accordance with the method reduces the amount of nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide generated when smoked, adsorbs heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, reduces sub-stream giving out from cigarette, and radiates far-infrared ray peculiar to loess due to heat generated when smoked, thus contributing to non-smoker&#39;s as well as smoker&#39;s health.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to a method for producing a cigarettecontaining clay minerals of loess that can remove heavy metals andharmful components present in the cigarette to human health.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

[0002] Generally, it is well known that some components and heavy metalspresent in a cigarette are carcinogens. In particular, these carcinogenscan be concentrated in smoker's lung and kidney over a long period.

[0003] Specifically, the cigarette contains about 2 mg of nicotine andabout 2.0˜3.3 mg of tar, each of which is a cause of hypertension andaging and acts as powerful carcinogen.

[0004] Also, the carbon monoxide (CO) in the range of about 2˜6% ofsmoke has an affinity for hemoglobin in blood about 210 times as high asoxygen does. Such a high content of CO in blood causes carbon monoxidepoisoning.

[0005] Further, tobacco leaves contain some heavy metals harmful tohuman body. The representative examples of the heavy metals present inthe cigarette include cadmium, copper, lead and zinc. 1 kg of tobaccoleaves contains 1˜2 mg of cadmium, 10˜20 mg of copper, 1˜3 mg of leadand 30˜50 mg of zinc. Among these, the cadmium and lead cause seriousdisorder physically or mentally.

[0006] Inhalation of the deleterious components and heavy metals presentin the cigarette with smoke and exhalation of the inhaled smoke do harmto non-smoker's health as well as smoker's health, and thus manycountries restrict smoking and heighten taxes to the cigarette in orderto protect their people from smoking.

[0007] In efforts of resolving these problems, a cigarette makingprocesses using various filters and new fillers have been developed. Inthe case of filter, porous adsorbents such as activated charcoal orzeolite inserted between a filter part and a filler part of thecigarette has been used. These adsorbents, however, insufficientlyadsorb tar and nicotine, etc., as well as gas-phase components such ascarbon monoxide. Further, the processes need an additional step ofinserting the zeolite or charcoal between the filter part and the fillerpart of the cigarette. Particularly, the charcoal is a chemicallymanufactured product, which can be harmful to human body.

[0008] The loess is formed through weathering of rock and the mineralcomposite ratio of the loess is shown in Table 1 below. TABLE 1Components Content (w/w) Quartz 40˜80% Feldspar and mica 10˜20%Carbonate mineral  5˜35% Silt  2˜5%

[0009] The silt shown in Table 1 is composed of heavy minerals and clayminerals, wherein the heavy minerals include amphibole, apatite,biotite, chlorite, cyanite, garnet, augite, rutile, tourmalin, zircone,etc. and the clay minerals include montmorillonite, illite andkaolinite, etc.

[0010] The chemical composite ratio of the loess is shown in Table 2below.

[0011] Table 2 TABLE 2 Compounds Content (w/w) Silica 50˜60% Alumina 8˜12% Ferric (III) oxide  2˜4% Ferrous oxide (II) 0.8˜1.1%   Calciumoxide  4˜16% Magnesium oxide  2˜6% Titanium oxide plus   0.5% manganeseoxide Moisture 10˜15%

[0012] The porosity of the loess is from about 50% to about 55%. As themoisture content is increased, the porosity tends to decrease.

[0013] In particular, montmorillonite of the clay minerals contained inloess has a complicated chemical composite of “M(Al, Mg, Fe, Li)₄(Si,Al)₈O₂₀(OH)₄.nH₂O” where M is an exchangeable cation selected from thegroup consisting of Na, Ca and K.

[0014] The montmorillonite is well known as an effective adsorbent. Amicroscopic structure of the montmorillonite has its surface area beinglarge enough to adsorb and remove the deleterious components and heavymetals of tobacco.

[0015] The montmorillonite has so high cation exchangeable capacity(CEC, 80˜150 meq/100 g) that a portion of Al³⁺ in AlO(OH)₂ layers can beexchanged with Mg²⁺ and a portion of Si⁴⁺ in Si₂O₅ can be exchanged withAl³⁺ to produce an electrically neutral three-layer structure.Therefore, the montmorillonite has a 2:1 type lattice structure thatconsists of two tetrahedron layers and one octahedron layer.

[0016] Recently, it has been found that other minerals contained in theloess radiate a far-infrared ray beneficial to human body. Also, becauseferric (III) oxide, ferrous (II) oxide, calcium oxide and magnesiumoxide contained in loess have free oxygen to a certain extent, the freeoxygen is reacted with carbon monoxide generated when smoked to beoxidized into carbon dioxide by the following chemical equations:

Fe₂O₃+3CO→2Fe+3CO₂

FeO+CO→FE+CO₂

CaO+CO→Ca+CO₂

MgO+CO→Mg+CO₂

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Applicant has discovered a cigarette that avoids disadvantagessuch as insufficient degree of adsorption of the conventional cigarettefilters by applying clay minerals of loess having high cationexchangeable capacity (CEC) and porosity into a cigarette filter, fillerand wrapper. The cigarette containing the clay minerals of the loess cansufficiently remove the deleterious components and heavy metals.

[0018] Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a methodfor producing a cigarette containing clay minerals of the loess that cansufficiently adsorb and remove the harmful components and heavy metal inthe cigarette.

[0019] A further object of this invention is to provide a cigarettecontaining clay minerals of loess produced in accordance with the methodof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] The cigarette containing clay minerals of loess according to thepresent invention is characterized by applying a suspension of the loessin the conventional cigarette filter, filler and wrapper. The totalcontent of the clay minerals in the cigarette of the present inventionis in the range of from about 0.1% to 10% of the cigarette weight on adry weight basis.

[0021] When the content exceeds 10% on the dry weight basis, the flavorand taste of the cigarette get deteriorated. When the content is lessthan 0.1%, the degree of adsorption of the deleterious components andheavy metals is insufficient.

[0022] A method for producing a cigarette containing clay minerals ofloess according to the present invention comprises the steps of: (a)collecting loess powder by mixing the loess with aqueous solvent,filtering off filtered particles, and drying a filtrate; (b) sifting outthe loess powder; (c) obtaining a homogenized suspension of the loess byadding the sifted loess powder into the aqueous solvent, and shaking thesuspension; and (d) applying the suspension into a cigarette filter,filler or wrapper during a cigarette making process followed by drying.

[0023] In the step (a), natural loess having particle size of 3˜50 μm isadded to the aqueous solvent, e.g., methanol, ethanol and water, in therange of from about 1% to about 50% by weight of the solvent, filteredand then the filtrate solution is dried by a common dryer, e.g., hot-airdryer, so that the moisture content is from about 0.01% to about-1.0%.The loess powder contains the clay minerals such as montmorillonite,kaolinite and illite.

[0024] In the step (b), the particle size of the sifted loess powder isin the range of from 1.0 to 1.5 μm.

[0025] In the step (c), the ratio of the loess powder as added to theaqueous solvent, e.g., methanol, ethanol and water, is between 1:5 and1:50. The shaking process is carried out at a temperature of from a roomtemperature to 60° C. for 0.5˜2 hours.

[0026] Hereinafter, the conventional cigarette filler making process issimply explained:

[0027] Tobacco leaves is first weighted, and saturated with vapor so asto make the tobacco leaves moisturized. After cooled to the roomtemperature, remove phyllocladium from the tobacco leaves. Mix thetobacco leaves with the shreds of lamellar Scopolia parviflora, andcirculate saturated vapor into the mixture so as to constantly maintainthe moisture content of the mixture. Add glycerine and propylene glycolas humectants to the mixture, and cut to the shreds. After cooled to theroom temperature, if necessary, add flavors to the mixture to producethe cigarette filler. The step of applying the suspension of the loessincludes spraying onto, impregnating into, or soaking in the cigarettefilter, filler and wrapper.

[0028] The suspension of the loess obtained in the step (c) was sprayedonto the original cigarette filler produced in the conventional fillermaking process as described above. The spraying can be carried outduring, after or before cutting to the shred.

[0029] The spraying methods using a common sprayer are known to thoseskilled in the art. Following spraying, the sprayed cigarette filler isthoroughly dried and processed in the manner of the conventionalcigarette making processes to produce the desired cigarette containingthe clay minerals of the loess.

[0030] The method for applying the cigarett filter is spraying th

[0031] Hereinafter, the present invention has been described in detail.However, it should be understood that the detailed description andspecific examples are given by way of illustration only, since variouschanges and modifications within the spirit and scope of the inventionwill become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detaileddescription.

EXAMPLE 1

[0032] One kilogram of the natural loess originating from Korea, wasadded to 10 liters of water, stirred at the room temperature for 1 hour,and placed in the shade. Subsequently, the solution was filtered, andthe filtrate was collected and dried by using a hot-air dryer at atemperature of from 120° C. to 130° C. for 3 hours to obtain 350 g ofloess powder. The obtained powder was sifted out up to 1.5 μm. Fourliters of water was again added to the powder and shaken to form asuspension of loess. The suspension of the loess was sprayed onto theoriginal cigarette filler, and dried thoroughly to produce the cigarettefiller containing the clay minerals of the loess.

EXAMPLE 2

[0033] The cigarette filter was produced in the same manner as describedin Example 1, except for spraying onto the original cigarette filterinstead of the cigarette filler.

EXAMPLE 3

[0034] The cigarette wrapper was produced in the same manner asdescribed in Example 1, except for soaking, in the loess suspension, theoriginal cigarette wrapper instead of spraying onto the cigarettefiller.

EXAMPLE 4

[0035] The cigarette containing the clay minerals of the loess wasproduced by using the filler produced in Example 1, the filter producedin Example 2, and the wrapper produced in the Example 3, in accordancewith the conventional cigarette making processes.

[0036] The smoke components passed through the filter of the resultantcigarette produced in Example 4 and 7 cigarettes available on the marketwere collected by a gas collector, respectively, and their nicotine, tarand carbon monoxide contents were determined by a gas analyzer. Theresults are given in Table 3. TABLE 3 CO content Nicotine Tar (mg) basedExample content (mg) content (mg) on smoke (%) Control* 2.0 2.5 5.0Example 4 1.0 1.5 4.0

[0037] The mark “*” contained in Table 3 denotes the average value of 7cigarettes. As seen from Table 3 above, Nicotine, Tar and CO wereremoved by from about 20% to about 50%.

[0038] The test cigarettes were smoked and the ashes were collected, andtheir heavy metals contents were determined using ICP (induced-coupledplasma) spectrometry. The results are given in Table 4. TABLE 4 CadmiumLead Copper Example (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) Control* 1.5 2.0 15.5Example 4 0.8 1.3 11.0

[0039] The mark “*” contained in Table 4 denotes the average value of 7cigarettes. As seen from Table 3 above, Cadmium, Lead and Copper wereremoved by more than 30%.

[0040] The radiation rate of the loess-containing cigarette of thepresent invention was measured. The loess-containing cigarette of thepresent invention have a high peak at a wavelength of 5˜25 μm at theroom temperature.

[0041] The radiation ray corresponding to the wavelength range whensmoked is beneficial to human body. In addition, the sub-streams fromthe test cigarettes were observed by naked eyes. The results show thatthe cigarette of the invention reduced the sub-stream than any othercigarette by more than 50%.

[0042] As above-mentioned, the cigarette containing clay minerals ofloess produced in accordance with the method of the present invention issuperior in adsorbing and removing nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, andheavy metals, e.g., cadmium and lead, to other cigarettes available onthe market.

[0043] Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cigarette comprising: clay minerals of loessproduced by applying the loess into a cigarette filter, filler orwrapper.
 2. The cigarette as recited in claim 1, wherein the content ofthe clay minerals of the loess is in the range of from about 0.1 toabout 10% of the cigarette weight on a dry weight basis.
 3. A method forproducing a cigarette containing clay minerals of loess produced byapplying the loess into a cigarette filter, filler or wrapper, themethod comprising the steps of: (a) collecting loess powder by mixingthe loess with aqueous solvent, filtering off filtered particles anddrying a filtrate; (b) sifting out the loess powder; (c) obtaining ahomogenized suspension of the loess by adding the sifted loess powderinto the aqueous solvent, and shaking the suspension; and (d) applyingthe suspension into the cigarette filter, filler or wrapper during acigarette making process, followed by drying.
 4. The method as recitedin claim 3, wherein the loess powder includes clay minerals.
 5. Themethod as recited in claim 3, wherein the particle size of the siftedloess powder is in the range of from 1.0 to 1.5 μm.
 6. The method asrecited in claim 3, wherein the ratio of the loess powder as added tothe aqueous solvent is between 1:5 and 1:50.
 7. The method as recited inclaim 3, wherein said step (d) includes the step of spraying thesuspension of the loess onto the original cigarette filler produced by afiller making process.
 8. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein saidstep (d) includes the step of spraying the suspension of the loess ontothe cigarette filter or impregnating the cigarette filter with thesuspension of the loess, and drying thoroughly.
 9. The method as recitedin claim 3, wherein the step (d) includes the step of spraying thesuspension of the loess onto the wrapper or impregnating the wrapperwith the suspension of the loess, and drying thoroughly.
 10. A methodfor producing a cigarette containing clay minerals of loess produced byapplying the loess into a cigarette filter, filler or wrapper, whereinthe content of the clay minerals of the loess is in the range of fromabout 0.1 to about 10% of the cigarette weight on a dry weight basis,the method comprising the steps of: (a) collecting loess powder bymixing the loess with aqueous solvent, filtering off filtered particlesand drying a filtrate; (b) sifting out the loess powder; (c) obtaining ahomogenized suspension of the loess by adding the sifted loess powderinto the aqueous solvent, and shaking the suspension; and (d) applyingthe suspension into the cigarette filter, filler or wrapper during acigarette making process, followed by drying.
 11. The method as recitedin claim 10, wherein the loess powder includes the clay minerals. 12.The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the particle size of thesifted loess powder is in the range of from 1.0 to 1.5 μm.
 13. Themethod as recited in claim 10, wherein the ratio of the loess powder asadded to the aqueous solvent is between 1:5 and 1:50.
 14. The method asrecited in claim 10, wherein said step (d) includes the step of sprayingthe suspension of the loess onto the original cigarette filler producedby a filler making process.
 15. The method as recited in claim 10,wherein said step (d) includes the step of spraying the suspension ofthe loess onto the cigarette filter or impregnating the cigarette filterwith the suspension of the loess, and drying thoroughly.
 16. The methodas recited in claim 10, wherein said step (d) includes the step ofspraying the suspension of the loess onto the wrapper or impregnatingthe wrapper with the suspension of the loess, and drying thoroughly.